Mar 29, 2006 6:00 pm US/Central
Attorneys Describe Ryan Judge As Tough, But Fair
by Mike Parker
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer
CBS
Jurors in the corruption trial of former Gov. George Ryan are back to work, this time with a couple of new faces on the panel.
Two alternates took over for the two jurors dropped for lying on their original questionnaires.
If the jury's questions from Wednesday are any indication, don't expect a verdict anytime soon. They're asking about the court's schedule through April.
So just who is the woman poised to answer all of those questions?
CBS 2's Mike Parker takes a closer look at U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer.
"When she gets angry, she lets you know about it," said attorney Rick Halprin. "And it's pointed out, and it's ominous, but it doesn't last."
That's how more than a few attorneys describe federal Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer: A jurist who can be warm and charming, or as George Ryan's co-defendant Larry Warned described her earlier this week, "Someone who's a lot tougher than people think."
She's had to be tough, handling not only the Ryan trial but also the trial of Ryan's right-hand man, Scott Fawell. She sent him to prison.
She also heard the raucous, sometimes violent, trial of former death row inmate Aaron Patterson on drug and weapons charges. She sent him to prison.
Attorney Richard Gonzalez is one of her oldest friends. He says she's tough, but fair.
"I think people admire the fact that when you come out of her courtroom, you feel that you've been heard," said Gonzalez, also a professor at the Chicago Kent College of Law.
"She tends to let arguments go on and on and on. That, however, I think is more a measure of her patience," Halprin said.
On the personal side, Rebecca Pallmeyer sewed her own wedding gown, is active in her church and sings in the bar association chorus.
"You can get the impression that nobody's that good, that there's got to be phoniness about it. And I soon found out that she's really like that," Gonzalez said. "And I liken her to that character Mary Tyler Moore used to play on that sitcom,
Gonzalez also says the last thing she wants is to be in the glare of the media spotlight, but says she can apparently handle the stress.
"If it weighs heavily on her, she keeps it very well hidden," she said.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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